Product Substitution Best Practices
Consider a scenario where your pharmacy has been dispensing a product for years and you find that the product is being discontinued, requiring a product substitution.
Entries by Meredith Thiede, PharmD
Breaking Insulin Pen Boxes: Where Are We Now?
This month marks two years since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarified their intentions behind revising insulin pen labeling, yet insulin pen boxes continue to present issues to pharmacies trying to establish best practices surrounding its dispensing and billing.
Proposed Section 1557 Rule – How Could It Affect You?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed to strengthen the interpretation of the Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) last modified in 2020 (“2020 Rule”).
Navigating Rights & Responsibilities in a Post-Roe v. Wade World
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on an individual’s rights surrounding abortion, pharmacies may be left wondering how to proceed.
Billing OTC COVID-19 Tests Brings New Struggles and Opportunities
As of January 15, 2022, pharmacies are capable of billing up to eight at-home COVID-19 tests per covered individual per month.
Bill It Right: V-Go® Insulin Delivery Device and Rapid Acting Insulin Vials
The Valeritas V-Go® Insulin Delivery Device (V-Go®), a disposable insulin delivery device, can be challenging to bill properly.
PBM Provider Manual Updates – What You Need to Know
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) update their provider manuals on occasion (some more frequently than others) and although the changes are applicable to the practice of all pharmacies contracted with that PBM, it can be difficult to keep track of the method by which each PBM updates their manual and where to find it.
Vaccinating Outside of Approved COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization Has Legal Ramifications
As reported in a September 27, 2021 article by the US Attorney’s Office, the owner of a pharmacy in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, “knowingly and willfully” administered vaccine outside of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and subsequently billed Medicaid for the claims. Twenty-four children between 7-11 years of age were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Audit Risk (including New PAAS Resource)
With additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being approved comes additional opportunities for COVID-19 audits, particularly in the realm of vaccine administration to Medicare beneficiaries at their homes and to the immunocompromised patient population.
Humana Audit Program Updates
On July 1, 2021 Humana updated three audit program documents and published them on their public pharmacy resources page under the “Manuals and forms: Audit guide, claim form and other materials” tab section.
